The present invention relates to that common form of crib which comprises a frame structure including like flat vertical end boards with floor engaging legs, elongate laterally spaced parallel side rails extending between the end boards, laterally spaced vertical side gates at the opposite sides of the frame between the end boards and shiftable vertically relative thereto, between up and down positions; and hanger means or brackets at the end board to releasably engage and support a spring frame and/or mattress structure within the crib frame.
The above noted type of crib frames, the spring frame and/or mattress structures therefor, and the bedding (sheets and blankets) for such crib structures, are produced by a multitude of different manufacturers and are, with rare exception, compatible and/or interchangeable one with respect to the other.
As a result of the above, while the crib frames of various manufacturers may differ in details of construction and in quality, they are, with rare exception, substantially standardized dimensionally so that they can effectively cooperatively receive and support standard spring frames and/or mattresses and so that standard crib sheets, blankets and the like can be used in conjunction therewith.
Special features or characteristics of standard crib frames which affect the present invention are that they are rectangular in plan configuration; they have unobstructed interiors and open vertically; they have four vertical floor engaging corner legs which extend vertically to define the vertical side edges of their related end boards; and they have hangers or brackets on their end boards to engage and support those standard spring frame and/or mattress structures used in combination therewith. The ordinary or standard crib frame is not a rigid structure independent of the spring frame and/or mattress structure with which it is related and depends greatly upon the rigidity and dimensional stability of the spring frame and/or mattress structure related to it to impart that degree of rigidity which is required to make it serviceable. That is, the spring frame and/or mattress structure in standard crib frames generally serve to reinforce and support or hold the frames in desired rectilinear configuration and prevent the frames from racking or collapsing, like articulated parallelogram structures.
In recent years, in the bedding art, notable advances have been made in flotation or water beds, which beds generally comprise water-filled, flexible bladder like mattresses upon which persons lie to rest and/or sleep and which substantially conform to and afford uniform support for the bodies of persons lying thereon.
In certain respects, the nature of body support afforded by water beds is materially different and notably superior to the nature of support afforded by all other types and/or forms of beds. As a result of the foregoing, while the use of water beds is oftentimes adopted for reasons of comfort alone, there are increasing instances where the provision and use of such beds is recommended or prescribed for therapeutic reasons.
While the bedding art has actively pursued the development of complete water bed structures and/or systems for adults, little or no attention has been given to the provision of such beds for infants and small children. This is believed and understood to be the result of the fact that commercially available bedding for infants and small children constitutes a small and specialized segment of the bedding market, coupled with the fact that the ordinary or conventional crib frame, which is a standard part of infant bedding, is structurally incapable or insufficient to effectively and safely engage and support water bed mattresses, which mattresses (due to the volumes of water contained thereby) are notably heavier than conventional mattress structures, which standard crib frames are intended and designed to receive and support.
As a result of the foregoing, it has been generally accepted in the bedding art that if water bed mattresses were to be provided for small children, special crib frame structures would have to be produced to accommodate and afford safe and adequate support for the heavier mattresses. Such special frames would have to be heavier, more durable and materially more costly than standard crib frames. Since crib frames have become standardized and are cheap to make and since the production of a more costly, non-standard or special crib frame structure for water bed mattresses would be a highly speculative undertaking by any manufacturer of crib frames, the manufacturers of crib frames have failed or sought to avoid the production and commercial exploitation of water bed cribs.